Thread: Recently experiencing redness and razor burn

Hello everyone,

I have been shaving with a double edge razor for over a year now on and off. I just recently started getting really good shaves with it. However yesterday and today I began experiencing redness and what I would call razor burn (my face felt really hot and hot to the touch). I am not sure why this is. Today I got some Musgo Glycerin lime oil soap and I thought it was great my shave was going smooth until I got to my 4th pass which is ATG. I started to see some redness, but finished my shave anyway. It came out really really smooth, but with redness and razor burn. I was wondering if anybody could help me out with this. I have not changed my technique or products at all and this is the first time since I started shaving that I have gotten redness or even razor burn.

For shaving I hold the razor near the bottom with three fingers and do not use pressure. I used TOOBS Lavender Cream today with Musgo Glycerine soap as a pre-shave. Today was my first time using the soap, but I had gotten redness and razor burn yesterday so I am sure it is not the soap.

Thanks for the help,
KWood34

That is a good question. First off I would skip shaving for a few days to let your skin settle down. It may be an allergic reaction to something not shave related that is being amplified with your shave. Were you out in the sun more than usual? It may be a mild sunburn that got worse with the shave. Pressure and angle would be my first guess but you already have that covered. When you shave in a few days be sure to sue a new blade and not any other shave stuff newer to you than a week. If all goes well just add one of the newer items every few days. Good luck.

Thanks for the advice. I will hold off shaving for a couple of days. I havent been getting any sun lol it's been the exact opposite its been really cold and snowing outside. I thought it may have been the razor too so today when I shave I used a new razor, but that didn't help either. Let's see what happens in a couple of days.

Thanks again,
KWood

I'm also thinking it's an allergic reaction. Razor burn is caused by excess pressure, resulting in taking too much skin off the face, kind of like scraping an elbow or knee. Since you've addressed the pressure issue, I would definitely go with the allergy. The question now becomes what is it you're allergic to?

If it's unusually cold and snowing and your face is exposed to that you can get burn very easily. I would do the rest thing and then try again and see what happens. In the meantime maybe some light skin treatment like moisturizer or Vitamin A oil might help.

I have no idea what I could be allergic to. I have used the same shaving cream, brush, razor, blades, aftershave, etc. for the last week because I am on vacation and that I only brought one of kind of each of these. strange...

Originally Posted by KerryWood34

I have no idea what I could be allergic to. I have used the same shaving cream, brush, razor, blades, aftershave, etc. for the last week because I am on vacation and that I only brought one of kind of each of these. strange...

Therein may lie your problem. If your brush is not having a chance to fully dry between shaves, you could have a mild case of bacteria buildup that would cause increased sensativity (allergy/razor burn looking) reaction.

That does seem to be the one variable from your normal routine (though there may be more, including chemicals in the water that your freshly shaven skin does not appreciate/isn't used to).

I had a similar problem happen to me on vacation with a tooth brush.